TWD: Baking with Julia - Baked Yogurt Tart

I am a bit behind with my Tuesday's with Dorie posts.  We moved at the very end of June and our kitchen was nothing but chaos and boxes for a bit!  Let's be honest here, most of the house still is but I have managed to get the kitchen wortkable.  I made one of the other missing recipes right before we moved, but  photos are on our other computer, which is not set up yet, that one will have to wait.  The Baked Yogurt Tart was supposed to post on Tuesday, July 2.  It is too bad my life was so crazy at that time, as this would have been a great July 4 treat!  Ah well.

Look what I found in a box!  Just kidding.  I didn't actually pack the clever baby in a box.  

Though he looks quite cozy, doesn't he?

One great thing about posting late is that I had the benefit of reading all of the other TWD baker's thoughts on the recipe before making it myself!  I benefited from their wisdom! 

I am not actually sure why this is called a tart.  Anyone know the actual definition of a "tart"??  Other than the sassy kind, anyway?  Regardless, this starts with a Flaky Pie Dough crust, which we made about a year ago for the Blueberry-Nectarine Pie.  I went back and read my post about that crust and decided I'd try it again.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of ice water and when I made the blueberry nectarine pie I used 2/3 cup and it was still fairly sticky.  This time I used less than 2/3 cups but I didn't actually measure...  I had probably between 1 and 2 tablespoons of water left in the measuring cup, I suppose.  We'll just say I used a scant 2/3 cup ice water, shall we?  And it seemed to have done the trick.  The dough was still somewhat sticky but no worse than other pie doughs, I'd say.  I also added a bit more salt this time, as last time I found the dough to be a little bland.


This crust is baked in a 9-inch cake pan.  Again, why the term, "tart"?  Anyway, the cake pan is supposed to be 1 1/2 inches tall but mine was 2 inches, so there wasn't enough crust to fold over the top edge and make it nice and pretty.  That was okay with me, though. 

Then you make the filling.  It is super easy and uses hardly any ingredients!  Yahoo! You start by beating eggs and sugar together with a hand mixer.  It actually says to use a hand mixer!  Which is good for me, as my beloved stand mixer is still in her box.  Poor thing!

Stir in some plain vanilla yogurt (FAT-FREE!!) and vanilla extract.  Now, when reading the other TWD baker's blog posts, one recurrent theme was that the filling was bland.  Not everyone thought it was bland, but many did.  The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract, which is actually quite a lot!  I used my homemade double-strength vanilla extract, and put in a splash of almond extract as well.  It was not bland to us, so maybe this did the trick!  After the yogurt and extracts are blended, flour is sifted over the top and folded into the batter. 

Theoretically now is when you pour the filling into the pie tart crust.  However I didn't time this very well and was just pulling the crust out of the oven to cool when I finished making the filling.  I put the filling in the refrigerator while the crust cooled and I ran an errand!  I wonder if refrigerating the batter could have made the flavors come together a bit better?  Maybe...

Pour the filling into the cooled crust and pile a load of fresh berries on top.  The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of fresh berries but I did not measure. I just kept piling more on.  I started with the blueberries, and put the strawberries in the middle.  The clever girl was watching and was sad that I had not left room for any fresh peaches, which I had taken out of the refrigerator to use.  Why not add more fruit?  I sliced up two peaches and added them!  Last, I added 1/3 cup toasted almonds and sprinkled them around the edge.  Into the oven it went.  It was supposed to bake for 35-40 minutes or until browned on top.  Another thing I learned from my fellow bakers was that it never really "browned" on top, so I just baked it until the middle seemed set, which was about 50 minutes total. 

Then comes the scary part.  You cover the top of the tart with plastic wrap and a plate of some sort and flip that tart right out of the pan!  Then invert it back onto your serving plate.  I held my breath and did a big "here goes" and it worked!  I did not end up with a disaster all over my new kitchen island!  I ended up with a beautiful tart on a plate.  Phew!

Mmm.  This was a hit.  I can't say it is my favorite pie/tart ever, but it was good!  Almost like a cheesecake in texture, but lighter than a cheesecake.  It was creamy and tasty.  The flavors of the filling accented the fresh fruit nicely, and the almonds provided a nice crunch.  The crust was flaky and the added salt was just right.  A perfect contrast for the sweet fruit.  And since the recipe calls for fat-free yogurt, you can serve this dessert and say it is healthy with your head held high.  Let's just forget about the amount of butter and shortening in the crust, shall we?? 

It is such a simple dessert, I could see making this again and trying different fruit combinations.  Maybe pears?  Cherries?  Plums?  Apricot?  And a graham cracker crust be awesome here as well!  Or maybe crushed gingersnaps?  Mmm.  The combinations are endless!

We are currently doing TWD posts without hosts, so you may find the recipe on pages 378-379 of Baking with Julia, or  you can find it here. 

Enjoy!